Ex-USF receiver Durant, 31, killed in Gainesville

Reshod Durant, whose brief career as a USF football player was cut short by off-field problems, died Saturday night in Gainesville as a result an altercation for which another man is now facing second-degree murder charges.

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Durant, 31, was pronounced dead at Shands Hospital on Saturday night after suffering head injuries, which police said were from both a blow to the head and then striking the pavement. Eddie McCallum, 33, turned himself into police Sunday night and will face charges stemming from Durant's death.

Durant, a standout at Gainesville's Eastside High School, caught a touchdown pass from Marquel Blackwell at the end of his first USF football game, a loss at San Diego State to open the 1999 season. He caught only two more passes that season, then was dismissed from the team in the first month of the 2000 season due to what was announced as a violation of team and university rules.

Arrest records show Durant had been arrested for possession of marijuana that spring, and he would be arrested at least a dozen more times since on charges ranging from possession of cocaine to theft. He spent a combined 28 months in jail from 2005-07 on multiple charges, and was arrested three times in Gainesville last year.

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